Distribution:

Northwest Territories to Labrador, and south to northern Ohio, Illinois,
and Minnesota.

In Canada in the Hudson Bay drainage. In Minnesota in the Rainy River/Lake
of the Woods and the upper Mississippi River, though absent from the Minnesota
River. Introduced to the Missouri River in North Dakota.

Habitat:

A pelagic species often found in the cooler water below the thermocline
in lakes where thermal stratification develops. Also thrive in shallow,
eutrophic lakes.

Relatively shallow waters of the Great Lakes; infertile inland lakes more
than 30' deep.

Tend to swim in large schools at midwater depth, moving to shallower water
in fall as upper waters cool.